Beats Raises $60 Million to Push Daisy

Beats Electronics is finally making moves on the music streaming service it announced late last year.

The Santa Monica headphone company announced late Tuesday that it has raised $60 million to spin off its streaming service, nicknamed Daisy, into a separate company.

The financing round was led by Access Industries, the New York owner of Warner Music Group, with investments from Apollo Global Management Co-Founder Marc Rowan, casino mogul James Packer and affiliates of Lee M. Bass.

“Beats has the vision, the brand, the management team and now the investor group to effectively change the expectations and experiences of a music subscription service,” Len Blavatnik, founder of Access Industries, said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to taking on this exciting challenge together.”

The company could not be reached for comment.

Beats announced in December that former Topspin chief Ian Rogers will head Daisy, which is set for launch later this year. Trent Reznor, lead singer of Nine Inch Nails, will be the company’s chief creative officer.

The music streaming market is already crowded with popular services such as Spotify and Pandora. Beats acquired struggling Spotify competitor MOG in July. MOG is still available to users, but will transition to serve as the backbone technology for Daisy.

Though it is unclear what the business model for Daisy will be, Reuters reported Wednesday that Beats has been in talks with Apple Inc. about a partnership.

Beats, which is best known for its colorful Beats by Dre headphones, is set to move into a new office at a former warehouse in Culver City. The company is currently located in Santa Monica’s Water Garden complex.